A united NDA: Good news for BJP to see Waqf Bill through

All NDA allies - BJP, JDU, TDP and LJP (Ram Vilas) - seemed to be on the same page on the Waqf Bill and voted in favour of the amendments.

The Bill proposes changing the composition of Waqf Boards in states. (Photo: X/@jagdambikapalmp)

After the amendments to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill proposed by NDA members were approved by the Joint Committee of Parliament on Monday (January 27), the BJP may feel more confident of seeing the Bill through in the House when it is tabled.

The reason for this is that the meeting on Monday saw a united NDA. Allies JD(U) and TDP members were among those who proposed some of the amendments, and the voting saw a JDU, TDP and LJP (Ram Vilas) all favouring the amendments – a signal that the parties are in favour of the Bill in the revised form after the amendments.

During the first meeting of the committee in August last year, NDA allies JD (U), LJP (Ram Vilas) and TDP had taken a “neutral” stand and at least two of these parties wanted concerns expressed by Muslim organisations to be addressed. This had come at a time when other government decisions, including lateral entry of experts into bureaucracy, were being questioned by NDA allies.

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Nearly six months later, all NDA allies seemed to be on the same page on the Waqf Bill and voted in favour of the amendments. Sources said Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister for Minority and Parliamentary Affairs, sought a united NDA during the voting on amendments to the 2024 Bill at a meeting of NDA members at his residence Monday.

With the BJP being below the majority mark in the Lok Sabha with 240 members, the votes of 16 TDP members, 12 JD(U) members and five LJP (RV) members will be crucial for the Bill to be passed. Other smaller NDA allies like RLD (two members), JDS (two members), Apna Dal (S) (one member) will also play an important role on the day of voting once the Bill is tabled in the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, the last meeting of the committee is scheduled Wednesday, with the agenda being “consideration and adoption of the draft report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024”. While Opposition members will prepare dissent notes – which will be incorporated in the committee report – which is likely to be tabled in the first half of Budget Session.

Since August, a total of 37 meetings of the committee have been convened with the final one, 38th, scheduled on Wednesday.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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